Goal
On a local, state, national, and world-wide basis, demographic pressures and consumption patterns (especially in China and India) have been converging to result in inevitably greater demands upon global energy and natural resources. The evidence of the socio-economic demand that drives this expansion can be seen in the increasing prices of critical commodities such as oil, natural gas, electricity, and waste management. Additionally, increasing concerns regarding environmental pollutants and accelerated climate change have generated greater interest in responsible management of greenhouse gas and other emissions.
 In light of this setting, renewable energy and resource technologies are becoming more and more of interest as a future solution to both the public and private sector. Renewable Energy technologies are seeing high levels of economic growth. Multi-national corporations, such as General Electric, have made recent acquisitions in Renewable Energy technology sectors (such as solar, wind, and biomass), thereby positioning themselves to take advantage of the tremendous growth curve potential in the near future for such technologies.
Over the course of 2 years, founding members of the Institute learned from their discussions with staff members of state and federal agencies, representatives of foreign governments, managers of large energy-related corporations and municipalities, leaders of research universities, industry consultants, and sector-focused investors. A large majority recognized that, while they had seen an enormous number of new technologies emerge recently within every renewable energy sector (biomass, solar, wind, etc.), there was no up-to-date, unbiased, relevant data regarding these new technologies under real-world operating conditions. Most of the people interviewed believed that detailed physical data collection would be a critical feedback mechanism to provide potential investors and buyers for these new technologies.
Many of they key individuals further expressed interest in supporting the establishment of a center, to be headquartered in the greater Sacramento region, for the analytical assessment, transparent demonstration, and unbiased certification of renewable energy systems technologies and the byproducts they produce. REI International has been set up directly in response to this interest.
 Similarly, REII believes that the most important focus for its efforts in the near term is on the widespread adoption of promising biofuels and biomass energy technologies. While considerable and self-sustaining progress has been made in adopting renewable energy technologies for generating electric power, the huge unaddressed problem is the continuing overdependence of the world economy on oil for transportation fuel and the relentless march toward global warming that it creates. A global priority is now needed to encourage the widespread substitution of biofuels for fossil fuels in cars, trucks, ships, and planes.
The Institute is designed to carry out research, development and deployment (RD&D) programs on renewable energy and fuel production technologies in collaboration with government, industry, academia, and other institutes and non-government organizations around the world. REI International serves as a technologically independent organization, with the objectivity to critically evaluate and further develop promising renewable energy conversion systems with a high degree of impartiality—evaluating promising technologies with a philosophy similar to that of the Underwriters Laboratory (“UL”).
|
